Freefall
This photobook by Alexander Treves concerns itself with the growing number of refugees worldwide. In black-and-white photographs, together with separate colour sections with a different mood, Treves documents refugees and displaced people whose everyday lives were upended by war, violent conflicts and persecution.
The books are available in a limited number through our online shop for £40, with the full amount going towards SolidariTee through Alexander's generous support. Informed consent was received for all portraits included in the book, developed through local NGO partners where appropriate.
Content note: Though many of the photographs in the book are of buildings, panoramas, and scenes of community and connection, there are also some images and quotes which readers may find distressing.
In 2010 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that around 30 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by conflict, violence and persecution. By 2021 that number had grown to over 84 million, including 35 million children.
Freefall contains black & white photographs taken in over 20 countries of refugees and other members of this vast and growing displaced population, together with the environments in which they live - from a camp in the Burmese jungle, to the closed border between Greece and Macedonia; from the lingering aftermath of conflicts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines, to people fleeing ongoing chaos in the Middle East; from torture victims to kids who treasure education as a route to a brighter future.
In addition, there are three colour sections which are printed on different paper and which have a different aesthetic. This reflects the disorder which has afflicted so many of the people in the book, whilst acknowledging the risks associated with a photographer in a privileged position depicting other people's challenges in formal black & white.
The geographic range of places in which the photographs were taken gives a broader view of the scale of this catastrophe than most Western media, which tends to approach refugees and other migrants only in terms of the impact they have on rich countries. Throughout the book, there is written testimony from refugees, in an attempt to give a voice to the people photographed.
The book is in hardback, with a cloth cover which has been embossed with the scar from a torture victim and asylum seeker. Each book also has an inserted postcard which addresses the latest cause of widespread displacement - Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an event which took place after the book design was complete but before publication. Sadly, humans keep repeating the same mistakes.
All proceeds from sales of this book through our online shop will be retained by SolidariTee.